Canadian Maple and Bacon Gravy

Maple and bacon is one of those combinations that could go badly wrong and does not, as long as the vinegar is in there to stop it turning into pudding. This is a bacon fat roux gravy, sweet enough to notice and sharp enough to stay savoury, and it is very good over roast pork, chicken, or a plate of breakfast anything. It takes about twenty five minutes.

Ingredients

Makes about 550ml, enough for six

• 150g (5oz) smoked streaky bacon, chopped small
• 1 small onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 20g (¾oz) butter only if the bacon is lean and the pan looks dry
• 30g (1oz) plain flour
• 650ml (1¼ pints) hot chicken or pork stock
• 3 tbsp maple syrup real dark amber maple syrup, not maple flavoured syrup, which is glucose and colouring
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 3 tbsp double cream optional, for a richer gravy
• salt and a lot of coarsely ground black pepper

Kit

• Frying pan
• Slotted spoon
• Whisk

Method

1. Put the bacon in a cold frying pan and set it over a medium low heat. Starting cold renders the fat out properly instead of scorching it. Cook for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are crisp and there is a good pool of fat.

2. Lift out about half the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it aside on kitchen paper to stay crisp for the end.

3. Add the onion to the pan and cook for five minutes in the bacon fat until soft and golden. If the pan looks dry, add the butter now. You want roughly three tablespoons of fat in there.

4. Sprinkle in the flour and stir it through. Cook for two to three minutes until it is a light hazelnut brown and smells toasted, scraping the base as you go.

5. Pour in the hot stock a ladle at a time, whisking hard after each addition until smooth before the next goes in.

6. Add the maple syrup, cider vinegar, mustard and thyme sprigs. Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes, whisking now and then, until it coats the back of a spoon and has reduced slightly.

7. Fish out the thyme. Stir in the cream if using and let it warm through without boiling. Taste and balance: it should be savoury first with the maple sitting behind it. If it tastes like pudding, add another teaspoon of vinegar.

8. Season with salt, going carefully because of the bacon, and a lot of coarse black pepper. Scatter the reserved crisp bacon over just before serving so it stays crunchy.

Tips worth knowing

• Buy real maple syrup. Maple flavoured pancake syrup is mostly glucose and will make this sickly without adding any of the woody, slightly bitter depth you are after.
• Vinegar is what keeps this a gravy rather than a dessert sauce. Taste at the end and add more if the sweetness is dominating.
• Hold back half the bacon and add it at the very end. Bacon simmered in gravy for ten minutes goes soft and rubbery, and the contrast is most of the pleasure.
• Black pepper needs to be assertive here. Grind it coarsely and use more than feels sensible, since it stands up to the sweetness.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps four days in the fridge and freezes for three months without the crisp bacon, which is best added fresh. Reheat gently with a splash of stock, and do not boil it once the cream is in.

Questions people ask